I am sad to inform you that my cousin May and her partner Eva lost to the Singaporean team. Eva also lost women’s single earlier, so the US Badminton girls are all out of the running. ETA: USA Network is now re-broadcasting May’s match with commentators. Of course, I was waiting to hear how badly they would butcher May’s long last name, Mangkalakiri. That’s pronounced Mang-ka-la-kee-ree, folks. But the commentator went crazy there with. Mang-gala-CARRY. Carry? Really? How did the “I” become “A”? The former USA Badminton president is the one going with the safe way, having known May, calling...
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The Olympics had begun, y’all. I was at Katie’s wedding last night so I missed most of the celebration during the first broadcast. However, I did catch the US and Thai national teams marched into the stadium. And I tivo’ed the rerun to watch again this morning. “Cousin” Nicky is reporting prolifically from Beijing on their adventures so far. And tonight, May takes the court. So please tune in on the computer at 9 p.m. PST (California time), Thais and Americans everywhere, to cheer her on. LA Times Olympics Blog also got to talk to May a bit as she...
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I have gone to private Catholic school all my life, so it wasn’t a surprise to find that both of my best friends on both sides of the world are Catholic. Nora is here, and Joy is back home. Joy has always said that I should’ve been her mom’s daughter too. Both of us are too “westernized” for our times. Both of us prefer to express ourselves in English most times. Both of us also like to write. Joy and Mary/Mommy–as I call Joy’s mom–contacted me a few months back about getting Mommy’s English translation of her original Thai edition...
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What a whirlwind week I’m having so far! This weekend was shock full of activities with the bike shopping and the bike riding. Work has been just nuts. I just now realized that I have to do 3 Christmas duties BEFORE the end of October. And then all the stuff I postponed because of the conference last month started to pile up. I was knee deep in stuff to do. And then there’s this business of Celeste leaving the company. Did I mention that she’s leaving my office for a greener pasture? Well, she is. I am extremely happy for...
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Y’all, I once again bought a bike. This is my new baby, Electra Townie, souped up with a cargo rack, a makeshift cargo hold (container bin and bungee mesh), and, of course, a bell. Brandon also scored his new cross-country bike, replacing his undersized cheapy that’s been killing his back and, more importantly, his bad knee this whole time. While Brandon’s purchase was planned as he’s taking the riding a bit more seriously now, it was a slightly impulsive buy for me. But I’m tired of being left behind when the boys go out to ride. Sure, they can do...
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Hey, it’s STILL Friday! And a double feature! Me and Nhien got all goofy at Amy’s house. And you know when people gather at Amy’s house, good times are ALWAYS had. We partied among Amy’s fellow international MBA graduates from USC. The world came together in this history Spanish home in Glendale, and so was the food. There were the famous Pete’s tri-tip, Korean barbecue, lamb skewers, Chinese barbecue duck and crispy pork. Then there were Tsing Tao, Dos Equis, Heineken, and wine of all variety and regions. We ate. We drank. We talked. We laughed. Tons of innuendos and...
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